Tainted
by WhitePhoenixSlash
Summary: A dark fic for Kokujo and Hakuoh, with a supernatural twist. Title subjected to change


Hey there! :D This is my first fanfiction for Duel Masters. This is just the introduction, so you won't be reading anything much related to creatures and cards.

Well thanks for clicking and enjoy!

Btw, this story happens after Shobu defeats Hakuoh in Season 1 (The whole Temple stuff)

Disclaimer: I do not own Duel Masters! (I wonder why I must say this. The Copyright owners don't give a damn about disclaimers anyway...)

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**1st Night of Darkness: The Darkness in the Darkness**

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_To him, the dearth of excitement was the ugliest side of life. To be consumed by boredom would be as good as death. _

_Thus he roamed the earth like a lost soul, drawn to the whiff of the slightest thrill. Always seeking, always thristy... until the day he met him._

* * *

It was a cold and hostile night. Lightning skidded overhead and the bulbous curtain of sorrowful grey roared and rumbled deeply as countless pin-pricks of fragile water reigned its fury down onto a lugubrious young teen wandering the streets.

_Alone. _

Nobody turned to him as he passed. Nobody offered him an umbrella. Nobody spared him the slightest sympathy. Nobody even looked at him, because that was what he was – Nobody.

The adolescent dragged his stiff heavy feet across the slippery pavement. His white suit was soaked and stuck to his skin like glue. His hair was a mess that clung heavily to his scalp and weighed him down with the excess water it absorbed. Worst of all, his heart screamed and bit down on his nerves in shocking pain.

Right palm over his chest, he tried to regulate his short, ragged breaths, but the pain never left. He was going to die. He knew it. His body could not withstand the direct blast of densely concentrated light beams. Till now, the shock of the deathly blast racked his body and threatened to silence his heart.

_I am going to die._

Cold, wet, tired and alone, the young boy did not mind the prospect of death. He was hated anyway. No one would miss him. He would be the last person wanted alive in this world. How could anyone forgive him after all the pain, cruelty and death he had condemned hundreds to? How could he be loved, if he had never loved others? How could anyone miss him, if he had no friends from the start?

_This is my fate. My retribution for all the evil that I have done. _

Even if he had wanted to live, there was no route to a new beginning. He had no home, no family, no money, no experience and no help. All his life, everything he had needed to survive was given to him by the Temple. Now that he had turned away from his 'home', he was left with absolutely nothing, besides the clothing he wore and his prized deck of cards in his pocket.

Another shock of pain struck his senses and he half consciously wandered into a dark alley, gasping with pain and dizzy with weakness. But this time he was not alone.

"W-What do you want from me…?"

"Your life. You've taken my brother's and I'm here to take yours."

"You ruined my future."

"You shattered my dreams."

"You condemned me to this eternal hell!"

_Avengers. I wrecked them to the state they're in. It's my fault. They deserve my life for all the pain and suffering I've put them through. _

"This is our revenge!"

_I feel a blow to my chest. And the impact of being slammed against a wall. _

_My vision blurs and I see blood. My blood. _

"We HATE you!"

_Their sharp blades draw near. _

_Death is closing in. _

"Burn in hell!"

… _I deserve such an ending anyway… _

… _But…_

… _I'm afraid of the Darkness… I don't…want… to… die…_

"What's the matter, 'Master'? Where's all your bravado now? I bet you don't even remember who I am! Who's the weakling now huh? Who's the pathetic failure now?"

The boy weakly opened an eye to face the gang of avengers before him. One was holding a dagger before his eyes. Two were pinning him to the wall. The rest were busy laughing, throwing and spitting, all with a dagger in their hands.

"Why should I remember the name of a weakling? What a pathetic, ungraceful lot you are… cowards. A group of you versus me, who is not in good condition to parry. Have you no pride? No shame? Oh, I see. Failed at life, didn't you? Too bad for you then…"

"Shut your damn mouth, f**ker!"

The armed avenger thrusted his dagger into the boy's chest. There was a stunned moment before the boy starting spasming in pain. The two avengers tightened their grip on the boy to restrict his movements. The boy then coughed up blood, the extreme shock of the pain leaving him barely conscious. The avenger then coolly pulled the bloody dagger out, leaving the boy gasping, blood spewing freely from his open wound.

"Any last words?" The avenger mocked.

Too weak to lift his head, the teen grinned faintly and said, "I'm glad you thrash are so poorly educated. My heart is more to my left… idiot."

"F**K YOU!"

Before the avenger could aim a proper stab to the boy's heart, a voice broke through the darkness.

"Well, well. What's all this commotion about?"

A shadow descended into the dark alley, his shadow darker than the shrouding gloom.

_Who's that…?_ The dying boy thought faintly.

The avenger turned to the newcomer and smirked, "Hey kid, in case you haven't notice, we are committing a murder here. If you don't want to die, just mind your own business and get lost."

_A kid? What's a kid doing in a place like this…_

The shadow did not budge, even as ten pair of bloodthirsty eyes turned onto him.

"Did ya hear me? Do you want to die? I asked you to get the hell away from here!"

The shadow watched on, then pointed at the avenger's blood-covered dagger.

"Drop that and leave him alone. I will not let you finish him when I'm not through with him yet."

_Who is that? I can't believe it, but is he trying to save me? Why would anyone want to save me?_ The dying boy struggled to raise his head, but the avenger before him slammed his head down to the concrete ground with a bloody splatter. The boy screamed in pain, rainwater mixing into his mess of blood.

"I SAID LEAVE HIM ALONE, YOU B**TARDS!"

The head avenger narrowed his eyes at the shadowed figure.

"My god, that kid over there is being such a pain in the a**. Shall we deal with him first? Hakuoh is too wounded to escape, anyway."

A roar of approval rose from the avengers and the head avenger turned to the shadowed figure.

"So, who are you, kid? You his 'friend' or something? Cause I don't remember him having any friends, bwahahaha!"

In the darkness, the shadowed figure smiled. A smile that would send shivers down the spine of even the bravest hero in history.

"I'm your worst nightmare…" the shadow paused, then decidedly added, "… brought to reality."

A cold sweat trickled down the avenger's forehead, but he rolled his eyes and took a step closer.

"Well, what do we have here? An egoistic duelist, huh?" The head avenger scoffed, "Unfortunately for you, your deck won't be saving you this time."

He drew his dagger and grinned madly.

"See here? It's a… Oof."

Before the avenger could finish his sentence, the shadow executed a hard upper kick into his abdomen, causing him to double over. The ruthless shadow then proceeded with a classic censored move, knocking the daylights/darkness out of the defeated avenger.

Instead of being demoralized, the remaining avengers were furious with the defeat of their leader and launched themselves onto the shadowed figure. The avengers were fast and furious, but the shadow was more nimble and quick. He slid to a side, and the avengers crashed down to barren ground. The shadow then swiftly knocked out the nearest avenger and proceeded to the next.

The dying boy, Hakuoh, was now free from the grasp of his two restrainers and lay on the hard ground in a messed heap. He was almost sure his skull had cracked when the head avenger slammed his head down.

But pain was not on his mind right now.

_I will not let anyone else die because of me…_

Gritting his teeth, the crumpled boy slowly raised his head.

_There's too many of them… That foolish boy can never defeat them!_

"Run! Get out of here while you can!" Hakuoh screamed hoarsely.

The shadow ignored his plea and continued fighting. But he was outnumbered, and soon he was cornered with the battered boy.

"Shit," the shadow cursed under his breath.

Hakuoh wanted to cry. "W-Why didn't you run? Now we're both going to die…"

"Shut up," the shadow snapped.

The avengers, including the now conscious leader, slowly advanced onto them.

"Bwahahaha! Now I can kill two kids with one pebble!" The head roared and the avengers laughed in agreement.

"It's kill two birds with one stone, idiot," both boys answered simultaneously.

"SHUT UP! Now, say goodbye to the world! Bwahaha!"

The avengers held up their daggers.

Lighting flashed overhead, and the heavy waterfall of rain continued to pour down its sorrow onto the two boys.

Hakuoh turned painfully to the other boy – the shadow.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess…"

"I told you to shut up," the shadow growled.

Then the boy of darkness did the most unexpected thing ever.

He hugged the dying boy.

Hakuoh felt the boy's strong arms wrap around his bloodied body as he held him in a tight embrace.

It has been 10 years since anyone had hugged him like this.

The thunder growled and rain continued to pour from the lugubrious dark clouds.

It was so cold. Yet it was so warm.

It was so dark. And the boy of darkness made the world a much darker place.

But it was such a warm, comforting darkness.

Hakuoh finally felt the portcullis barring his emotions behind being raised. He wrapped his bloody hands around the other boy and cried, and cried, and cried.

"Stupid. Crying when we should be trying to stay alive."

"Sorry… Sorry…" Hakuoh sobbed.

"Eh, eh. You two done with ya farewells?" The avenger sneered.

Hakuoh felt the other boy let go of him and watched as he slowly stood up.

"I cannot die, for I am Death himself," the shadow proclaimed and leaned forward slightly in challenge.

"Why y-"

There was a flash.

All the avengers lay motionless on the cold hard ground, with only the darkness teen left standing. He raised his hand to examine it. It was soaked with blood.

"Wh-What did you do…?" Hakuoh stammered, awe and fear-stricken.

The shadow turned towards him, and Hakuoh cowered in fear.

"Le-Leave me alone…" he pleaded before the monstrosity that stood before him.

"Look at you, how pathetic you are now that you are stripped of power," the dark teen scoffed and leaned forward. "You sure you want me to leave? Who knows how many more of these people are out there, waiting to kill you. No one will protect you then."

_Protect… me?_

Hakuoh raised his head to see the Shadow smile an evil grin.

"Pfft. Don't expect me to offer you a hand. You're standing on your own."

"I… I can't stand…"

"Oh. I forgot. Damn. Looks like I'll have to carry you then."

_…! He's going to carry me?_

"Uh…"

"Do you have a place to stay? NO. Do you have anyone to take care of you? NO. Do you have money to see a doctor? NO. So just shut up and let me take you home."

"…? I don't need your pity, darkness boy."

The Shadow took off his jacket and wrapped it around the battered boy.

"Heh. You sure have a lot to say for someone who doesn't have much options left."

Hakuoh looked away from the shadow as he carried him up with his strong arms.

"But… why are you helping me?"

The Shadow smirked and turned Hakuoh's head to face him as he walked.

"I am the Black Death. The Lone Wolf. I pity no one and I help no one."

Hakuoh gave him a puzzled look. "Then… why are you bringing me to your house?"

The Black Death frowned as he placed the other boy down and unlocked the front door of his landed estate.

"Well… I need your help with a _Big_ problem…"

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**Umm.. well I know you have lots of ?? above your heads but please be patient ^^ **

**More will be revealed next chapter! **

**And don't OMG me. 'The Shadow' or Hakuoh are not gay. (But you can always think it that way :P) - You will know why they hugged, and what the hell happened after the hug soon :D**

**And I know The Black Death is kind of OOC. But please bear with me :)**

**Thanks for reading! Please R&R! :D**

**PS Sorry if you hate my way of description. I'm not a gifted writer so I'm trying!  
**


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